Focusing on what is

CHASING DOWN THE MUSE

“In a simple bow from the waist before the nest of the horned

lark, you are able to stake your life, again, in what you dream.”

-- BARRY LOPEZ

How do we stay with the living of a life -- both its joys and its

sorrows -- when inundated with the chaos of speculation that goes by

the name of “news”? What if we were to just walk away from TV or

radio or newspaper and just focus on what IS around us, what directly

and immediately affects us in the moment?

When despair for the world and its ways grows in me and my dreams

seem filled with fear for what we will leave all our children, going

out into nature can help me change perspective. I like to move in

relative peace among wild things that follow some natural law. There

I can regain my dreams. There I can clear my mind of speculation and

chaos and the confusion they wreak. There I am able to re-focus.

Driving north to the central coast ranch of our friends Jim and

Judy, my mind starts to work through the clutter and empty out the

buildup of chaos. When we turn off onto Highway 46 in the late

afternoon, a big shift takes place -- inside and out.

Rolling green hillsides -- their velvety green dotted with cows --

fill the landscape. Clumped mistletoe hangs in winter-naked trees. A

sliver of rainbow hangs in a wispy cloud to the west ahead of us. My

mind sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and the heaviness of the past

few days lifts from my heart.

Heading into the hills outside of Paso Robles an hour or so later,

I am watching for wild critters. As dusk settles in, pink light is

reflected in a roadside pond and, overhead can be seen a raspberry

swirl of color on the clouds.

When we arrive at the ranch entrance, I send Mike on ahead in the

car. Closing the gate, I walk the quarter mile or so up to the house.

A chorus of frogs sounds from the pond somewhere to my right as I

look up at the canopy of stars filling the deepening blue night sky.

This is what IS.

And as our visit evolves, what IS is the clear, crisp beauty of

morning sun on the fields and hills, the expansive feeling of peace

and calm that settles on me as I walk through them. What IS is the

shiny dew on the grass, the pitik of a Nuttall’s woodpecker in the

valley oak trees.

What IS is pollywogs -- hundreds of them -- turning the water at

lake’s edge into a busy churning of bubbles. What IS is wood ducks on

the front pond -- a male and three females hide back in the brush as

mallards and pintails fly off at my approach. I drop down and peer

over the berm, easing my binoculars up to look closely at the

seemingly unreal coloration of the redheaded male.

What IS is the soft ripple of water behind us as Judy and I push

our canoe off into the waters of Harris Creek. Jumping fish, teals

and coots at water’s edge, a bald eagle circling overhead, two young

brothers fishing from the dock -- more interested in process than

outcome, just enjoying themselves. This is what IS, what is real.

On a walk in the cooling air of an afternoon, my footsteps scare

up a covey of California quail. I can hear the trickle of water in

the creek below as the whir of their wings subsides.

A hanging clump of gray-green lace lichen waves flag-like in the

breeze that ruffles through the leaves of the oaks and whispers in

the tops of halipensis pines. Overhead, a golden eagle soars

smoothly, moving higher and farther away. I watch until I can no

longer distinguish the distinct golden nape and wing markings.

At the end of this long weekend, far off across a clear central

valley stand majestic white-capped Sierras, a red-tailed hawk swoops

low over a barren field beside the road, hunting. I feel full and

rich.

* CHERRIL DOTY is a creative living coach, writer, artist, and

walker who lives and works in Laguna Beach. Contact her by e-mail at

[email protected] or by phone at (949) 251-3883.